Sudbury Court FC: A Journey

Just a minor update from me to show a side-by-side of my ground model and the actual Vale Farm facility.

Sudbury Court FC have today released their accounts for July in line with the terms of the Community Football Initiative grant afforded to the club by Brent Council to fund its development.

The accounts show that the club’s largest proportion of non-grant income was the £467.83 raised by the club at their Family Fun Day at the beginning of the month. By contrast, the greatest spend in July was the purchase of new training & matchday equipment at just over £1,500, which was funded by a further grant from The Football Foundation which aims to help clubs with the cost of procuring of essential equipment.

The club is currently investing in improving the facilities at Vale Farm after receiving approval from the council, and a breakdown of the costs associated with this will be presented alongside the accounts for August. Currently the project is expected to cost around £4,500 and is on course to complete by Saturday August 20th, one week before the club’s maiden Middlesex County Combination fixture against Harrow Boys.

Local side Sudbury Court have been given a boost ahead of their Middlesex County Combination campaign as improvements to their Vale Farm home completed a day ahead of schedule yesterday.

The club, facilitated by a £5,000 grant from Brent Council, have revamped their home ground with a new covered supporters area, improved home and away dugouts and new perimeter fencing to ensure compliance with Middlesex County FA guidelines and make the facility more accessible and appealing to local residents.

The focal point of the upgrade is a 50-capacity covered supporters area situated on the halfway line. Constructed using wood, galvanised steel and Perspex, the all-standing facility is believed to have cost the club just shy of £2,000, and offers unrestricted viewing of almost the entirety of the pitch – something which manager Olly James believes will stand the club in good stead for any future promotion attempt;

”I’m delighted that all the hard work and enthusiasm invested in this project has paid off for everyone involved, and I would like to personally thank our dedicated group of volunteers who worked tirelessly to get this off the ground. Now that we have the building blocks in place we can really kick on and look to repay the faith that the community has shown in getting this club off the ground”

In other club related news, Sudbury Court’s bid to sign former Arsenal Academy left back George Brislen-Hall ended in failure as the 23 year old put pen to paper on a £110 a week deal with semi-professional Isthmian League side Tooting & Mitcham. Manager Olly James had been hoping to sign the defender to provide cover and competition for Luke Mathias, who is currently the club’s only out & out left back, although the venture ended unsuccessfully.

Sudbury Court will officially unveil their new facilities with a red tape ceremony hosted by the mayor of the London Borough of Brent, Cllr Parvez Ahmed, before their league opener against Harrow Bhoys in just under a week’s time.

Sudbury Court FC would like to thank all club members and volunteers who worked tirelessly over the last two and a half weeks to ensure the club’s plan to improve their Vale Farm ground passed smoothly and on schedule.

The work, which begun on August 2nd, involved the installation of perimeter fencing, new dugouts, a bespoke covered supporters area and landscaping of the surrounding area to make the facility more accessible to fans and local residents. The project completed earlier this afternoon and will be unveiled with a red tape ceremony attended by the Mayor of Brent, Cllr Parvez Ahmed, shortly before Sudbury Court’s opening league match against Harrow Bhoys on Saturday 27th August. Tickets for both the ceremony and match will be reduced to £3 (£1 seniors, children & concessions) and can be purchased at the ground which will open at 10:00 in preparation for the ceremony at noon, before the match kicks off at 13:00.

Photographs of the new facilities can be found below:

The draw for the Middlesex County Senior Open Cup first round took place at noon today, with 50 clubs based across the county involved in the tournament.

Sudbury Court have been handed a home tie against Middlesex County Division Two side Heathens, and will play the match on Saturday 10th September at Vale Farm.

Heathens currently play in level 13 of the English league pyramid, one level above Sudbury Court, and the game will be a tough test of the home side’s promotion credentials. Manager Olly James will be hoping for a bumper turnout at Vale Farm so his team can make the most of their home advantage.

Sudbury Court’s home league fixture against St. Nicholas will now be played on Wednesday 7th September at 19:45 due to the fixture clash.

Mayor of Brent Cllr Parvaz Ahmad watched Sudbury Court pull of a very impressive comeback to leave them top of the Middlesex County Combination after their opening fixture against struggling Harrow Bhoys at the revamped Vale Farm ground this afternoon.

Both sides had vastly differing fortunes in their respective pre-season campaigns, with Sudbury Court remaining unbeaten in contrast to Harrow Bhoys, whose 0-0 draw at home to Melwood was their only minor success in the midst of heavy defeats to Virginia Water, Hollands & Blair and the most recent, a 5-2 loss against Raunds. Despite this, it was the away side who had the first attempt through Shamaul Dilibero after Michael Kalu was booked for an early foul on the edge of the area, although the Bhoys defender was unable to test Louis Bragg with his 30-yard effort.

A lack of firepower was part of the reason for the Bhoys struggling in their pre-season fixtures, and it fell to a defender to do the job up front for the away side. Left back Dan Diallo managed to break that duck with their first shot on target on 20 minutes, scoring a sweetly struck effort from the edge of the area after a cross into the Sudbury Court box could only be half cleared by Seyi Obaye-Daley.

The opening 45 minutes were not all plain sailing for Harrow Boys however, as with just a few minutes to go until half time visiting manager Zac Pykes was forced into an early change as striker Jordan Walshaw injured himself while sprinting.

With the Bhoys on the backfoot Sudbury Court looked to capitalise before the break, and almost did just that through Danny Emmanuel, who forced a good save from Joe Murray in the away goal moments before the half time whistle blew.

Half time score: 0-1

The second half began with the home side immediately on the front foot and looking for a quick equaliser to level the scores. Striker Aaron Opoku had an unusually quiet first half, and was unlucky not to find the bottom corner with a powerful effort on 47 minutes after some good play by Vences Bola.

The home side were eager to make amends for their poor first half showing, and manager Olly James decided to rotate his attacking options before the hour mark, bringing on experienced striker Elvis Hammond for Vences Bola after the latter squandered a good opportunity after being played in by the impressive Opoku.

Sudbury Court took the game to their opponents in the second half through relentless attacking play. Aaron Opoku finally got the breakthrough for James’ side on the hour with a delightful finish after Obaye-Daley chipped a sublime ball over the top for the onrushing striker.

The home side almost completed the comeback soon after, however substitute Elvis Hammond could only watch as Murray pulled off an acrobatic catch to deny the veteran striker a looping header.

Olly James’ second substitution of the afternoon was former Chelsea midfielder Tom Howard, and the youngster repaid the faith his manager showed in him by scoring for his side with just ten minutes remaining. Defender Shamaul Dilibero fouled Elvis Hammond in the area with Howard driving home the resulting spot kick past the industrious Murray.

Counter attacks had been a key weapon of the Sudbury Court arsenal in their pre-season fixtures as the club utilised their pacy forwards to good effect. Their third of the afternoon came through a prime example of this, as Elvis Hammond finished off a quick move involving Howard and Opoku to seal an impressive opening day victory in front of Cllr Ahmad and the home fans.

Full time score: 3-1

Sudbury Court FC revealed the cost of the recent ground improvement work in their monthly meeting last night.

The club released the full cost of all elements of the work done, showing that the final cost of the project was just shy of £4,500, taking all but £500 of the £5,000 grant bequeathed to the club by Brent Council.

Manager Olly James thanked all those involved in the project, with the club presenting each of the 33-strong voluntary workforce including local tradesmen and businessmen with a signed club photograph by way of thanks. Accounts reflecting these costs will be released in line with the club’s CFI obligations in the coming days.

Sudbury Court were somewhat fortunate to come out 1-0 winners over Hilltop in their first away game of the 2016-17 Middlesex County Combination campaign.

Olly James made just a single change from the side that came back to beat the much fancied Harrow Bhoys 3-1 in the previous fixture, substituting Vences Bola for veteran Ghanaian poacher Elvis Hammond who found the net in his side’s opening day victory.

Sudbury Court struggled to create much in the first half last Saturday and that trend continued in the first half. The first chance of note came half an hour in to the game, as former Brentford youngster Anthony Guppy tested home stopper Kane Stephens with a free kick from considerable distance before the resulting corner was cleared with relative ease.

Hilltop lost their initial fixture against CB Hounslow United Under 18s, but were close to scoring the opener just before half time as Louis Bragg acrobatically tipped over a dipping effort from Nick Ring; though this was a rare moment of quality in a tepid first half.

Half time score: 0-0

The second half began with Hilltop on the front foot, and almost went ahead through Levi Gregory just after the break, although Bragg was equal to the left winger’s powerful effort.

Sudbury Court looked to play more direct in the second half, utilising big target man Aaron Opoku to good effect. The striker had the opportunity to put James’ side ahead on 60 minutes, yet the ever-present Stephens pulled off a fine diving stop to deny him a second league goal of the campaign.

Away manager Olly James used his substitutes to good effect in their previous victory and it was a substitute that came to his rescue again here, as less than ten minutes had passed between the introduction of Vences Bola and the striker opening his account for Sudbury Court with a stunning 25-yard effort into Stephens’ bottom left corner after good hold-up play by Opoku.

All in all, Sudbury Court rode their luck somewhat in this game, but will be delighted to take all three points safely back to Vale Farm.

Full time score: 1-0